Defective Battery from Battery Recall

Question

To whom it may concern at Apple:
One of my old laptops ( 15" Powerbook G4 ) was one of the thousands affected in the last battery recall incident.
Like many other users I filled out the necessary forms and I got the "non defective" battery replacement on the mail just a few days later. (This was about 4 - 5 months ago).
I then started using the new battery instead of the recalled one. I was supposed to mail the first battery and I never did, I put it in the shipping box and I kept postponing it till I forgot about it.
I'm sure I'm not the first one, but today I am glad I didn't.
A few months ago I got a mac book pro, so I was going to sell my Powerbook, but I noticed that this "new non defective battery" stop re charging, just like that, quick it stopped working, I can't use my computer unless I leave it plugged to the charger or my previous "recalled battery" Now, keep in mind that I had this first battery (the recalled one) since I bought the computer almost 3 years ago (2 years and 10 months to be exact) and the battery still works perfect.
No big deal I thought, the $349 I have spent on the apple care extension program will bring me "peace of mind", so I went to my local Apple Store were after running a test on the battery in question the store technician told me that the battery can't be replaced if its over 300 cycles (this number was never voiced before until he told me that the battery had around 320 cycles.
So just in case, he decided to run a test on my other battery (the recalled one) which I brought to the store with the only intention to show that the computer worked perfect with that battery.
So this test came to the magic number of 500 cycles, and still works perfectly.
So just to remind you:
Old recalled battery:
Over 500 cycles: Almost 3 years in use: Working perfectly today.
New replacement battery:
A bit over 300 Cycles: 4 months of use: Currently not working.
Can someone explain to me how come the number of cycles is so close, yet the actual time of usage is clearly far apart?
Can you even reach 300 cycles in 4 months?
Let me state that I have never dropped the battery, it has not a single scratch on it, it looks brand new.
So now, I have to pay $125 for a battery that I received as a replacement of a "defective battery" (that still works perfectly) to replace this new "non defective battery that died on my in only 4 months, as a loyal Apple customer from many years (since 1995) I feel cheated, I feel abused and I find this to be unfair.
When I first bough the computer in question (brand new at the apple store) it had 1 dead pixel on the screen, 1 month later I realized that, and I took it to the store, they said "you need to have 7 dead pixels in order for us to repair your screen". Computer was under warranty, I bought it brand new, it was clearly a manufacturing mistake, and they said they cant help me, (I bought a refurbished laptop before that, with not a single problem, yet something new at the store (sold at a higher price) comes defective) how can something like this happen? I don't know, but you know what I counted it as my loss, and eat it. But I am tired of being pushed around, always that SKETCHY number (7 pixels, 300 cycles) there is always an excuse for the warranty not to work.
This is not about the money, (remember I have the "so called defective battery" still working perfectly), this is about principle.
My battery is defective you should either fix, it or replace it with one that works, that is what I have my extended warranty for.
I am extremely disappointed.

Answer 1

Hi, Miguel. You make a pretty good argument for yourself, but Apple isn't going to read it here. These are user-to-user forums, not user-to-Apple forums. You need to take this up with Applecare, and keep asking to have it escalated to the next level, if you're going to get anywhere with it.
It does seem highly improbable — but not impossible — that your new battery went through 300 charge cycles in 4 months. That would be about 2-1/2 cycles per day.